Extruder and extrusion screw therefor

ABSTRACT

An extruder for plasticating and extruding an extrudate, and an extrusion screw used with the extruder form the subject of this invention. The extruder screw includes an elongated root body and a thread portion helically wound about the root body and extending along the length. The screw having a low compression ratio, flight with a reduced helical angle, and a conical, tapered front end section where at least one-half flight of the thread has a pitch associated therewith which is different from the pitch of the remainder of the thread and where the diameter is less than the diameter of the remainder of the root body.

This application is a continuation of application having Ser. No.08/865,212 filed May 29, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,668, entitledEXTRUDER AND EXTRUSION SCREW THEREFOR.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to extruders and to extrusion screws which form apart of each extruder. More particularly, this invention relates toextruders and extrusion screws used to form continuous extrusion ofnon-thermoplastic powdered or granulated materials with thermoplasticmaterials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Extruders for extruding thermoplastic and non-thermoplastic materialsare available in different sizes and shapes and with one or moreextrusion screws. This invention focuses on those extruders which have asingle extrusion screw rotating in a tightly fitted barrel. This type ofextruder utilizes the mechanical energy introduced through the screwshaft and the thermal energy from the heated barrel surface converting(plasticating) the thermoplastic material (solid polymer pellets orpowder) into a uniform melt at a certain temperature and pressure. Theagglomerated melted mass is then shaped into a body by being passedthrough a die assembly which extends the longitudinal axis adjacent tothe barrel.

With an extruder of the extrusion screw type, continuous operation ispossible, i.e., the process of loading the extruder with raw materials(pellets, for example) and extruding the finished product (extrudate) isrelatively continuous. This is a desirable feature of this type ofextruder. Therefore, in the continuous process, the extruder needs toconvey, melt, mix and pump the material.

A disadvantage of the current state of the art with this type ofextruder for the extrusion of mixed composite articles having athermoplastic resin binder and non-thermoplastic powdered or granularmaterial is that, as the mixed mass of material flows off the screw andinto the die, and begins to cool and harden, the flights extending fromthe screw creates a spiraling "knit mark" along the outer surface of thematerial. This spiraling knit mark which travels along the axial lengthof the extrudate product results in a spiral weak area which has lowerdensity and greater porosity. To demonstrate the inferior effect of thespiral "knit marks", an experiment was conducted on two extrudates(hollow cylinders). The first extrudate made using conventionalparameters had spiral "knit marks", and the second made using thisinvention did not. The extrudate with the marks demonstrated a breakingstrength of 198 lbs. The extrudate without the marks demonstrated aproduct approximately 40% stronger having a breaking strength of 276lbs.

In the past, the primary solution to overcome the problem of spiral weakareas caused by the spiral "knit marks" has been to form the extrudateproduct with an overall greater density, i.e., the alternating spiral ofgreater density and lower porosity is made denser and less porous thannecessary. However, this results in higher production costs due toincreased material usage, lower production rates, increased extruderusage (wear and tear) and higher power consumption. It would thereforebe desirable to have a way to eliminate these "knit marks" without thedisadvantages noted above. A general object of this invention, then, isto provide a solution to the noted problem without the noteddisadvantages.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide an extruder andan extrusion screw for the continuous extrusion of thermoplasticmaterials with non-thermoplastic materials to form a product without"knit marks" having a uniform density with consistent porosity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With this invention, the state-of-the-art has been improved by theprovision of an extruder and a helical extrusion screw forming a part ofthe extruder, which produces an extruded product, or extrudate, withoutspiral "knit marks."

The screw is provided with a low compression ratio, flight with areduced helical angle, and a conical, tapered front end section whichhas at least the last one-half flight of its' thread configured to havea sufficiently different pitch or angle than the remainder of thethread. The conical end has a decreasing screw root diameter as well,which together with the differing pitch or angle allows the flowingmaterial to be agitated and mixed such that the extrudate is uniform andhomogeneous without "knit marks."

With the extruder of this invention, the continuous formation of auniform homogeneous extrudate is possible. Greater production capacityand a product of greater strength with no visible spiral knit marks norareas of spiraling lower and higher density are achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Five figures have been selected to illustrate a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. These figures along with the accompanyingdescription are schematic but sufficient for those skilled in the art topractice the invention as claimed. Included are:

FIG. 1, which illustrates an extrudate with spiral knit marks;

FIG. 2, which illustrates, in partial cross section, an extruder with ahelical extrusion screw including the improved front end;

FIG. 3, which illustrates the helical extruder screw shown in theextruder of FIG. 2 in greater detail;

FIG. 4, which illustrates an enlarged view of the front end of thehelical extruder screw of FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 5, which illustrates a front view of the helical extruder screw ofFIGS. 2 through 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows the section of an extrudate product extruded with anextruder having a single extrusion screw but without the inventivefeatures of the present invention. The extrudate 10 as extruded includeshelically oriented "knit marks" 12 produced as noted above.

To eliminate these marks, the extruder 14 shown in FIG. 2, is providedwith a uniquely designed extrusion screw 16. In the preferredembodiment, extruder 14 is designed to continuously extrude porousactivated carbon block filter elements formed from premixed materialssuch as non-thermoplastic granular or powdered carbon and athermoplastic polyolefin binder such as polyethylene. However, it iscontemplated as being within the scope of the present invention toprovide an extruder apparatus to produce other composite solid articlesfrom a mixture of other thermoplastic with non-thermoplastic materials.

In a typical fashion the extruder 14 includes in its' essentialelements, in addition to the extrusion screw 16, an elongated barrel orhousing 18 which defines an elongated interior passage 20 in which theextrusion screw 16 extends. At one end of the barrel 18 a hopper 22 ismounted which receives the premixed material from a material supply 24.As previously stated, the preferred premixed material 26 comprises athermoplastic binder material, for example, polyethylene, and a powderedor granular primary material such as activated carbon. The premixedmaterial 26 is shown in FIG. 2. The premixed material 26 is moved by theextrusion screw 16 through the passage 20 to the front end section ofthe extruder. In the process the thermoplastic binding material melts asit absorbs heat from the barrel 18 through heaters 30 (only two areshown). The melted material creates "bridges" between the carbongranules so as to form an agglomerated mass 28.

The material is transported by the mechanical work from the rotation ofthe extrusion screw 16 using a drive 32. The drive 32 engages androtates the extrusion screw 16 through a slot 34 (spline and slot, forexample). The drive 32 may be an electric motor, a belt drive, a geardrive, or the like. The agglomerated mass 28 formed by heating is mixedand pumped by the extrusion screw 16 through output end 36 of barrel 18.The output end 36 feeds into an input end of a die assembly 54.

The barrel, hopper, material supply, drive, heaters and die assembly areschematically shown in FIG. 2 because they are all known structuralcomponents. A more detailed study of the extrusion screw 16 (FIG. 3)follows. Here too, the screw 16 is shown schematically because, with theexception of its' front end section, compression ratio and the uniquehelical angle and pitch of the thread 42 throughout the screw 16, itpossesses a known basic configuration.

The extrusion screw 16 is theoretically divided into three sections: thefeed section; the compression section; and the metering section. Thisinvention further includes a continuous flight or thread 42 throughoutthe feed, compression and metering sections. Within the metering sectionis a tapered front end section. The feed section is that section whichis fed directly from the hopper 22. A feed pocket 38 facilitates thefeeding action. The premixed materials 26 is fed into the feed sectionand moved from there to the compression section where the materials areformed into a solid bed. Also in the compression section, thethermoplastic binder material begins to melt.

As the material is being conveyed in the forward direction, air is beingsqueezed in the opposite rearward direction. As understood in the art,the term "compression ratio" means the ratio of the volume of materialheld in the first channel at the feed section to the volume of materialheld in the last channel in the metering section. For purposes ofdetermining the compression ratio in this invention, the last channel ofthe metering section is between the flight just prior to the taperedfront end section. Preferably in this invention, the compression ratioassociated with the extrusion screw 16 is low, and approximately 1.5.

In the compression section, compression is achieved by tapering upwardthe diameter of the screw root body 40, or sometimes by decreasing theinside diameter of the barrel, to achieve a reduced volume transferredbetween the screw thread 42 and the root body. The former is the morepreferred and prevalent approach. From the compression section, thematerials are moved to the metering section where melting is completedand the agglomerated mass 28 is formed and advanced at a uniform rate tothe front end section, the output end 36, and then to the die assembly54.

In all three sections in this invention (feed, compression andmetering), the helix angle θ of the flight throughout is preferably lessthan 17.7°, with the most preferred helix angle θ being 16°. As isunderstood in the art, the helix angle θ is equal to the inverse tangentof the lead length divided by the circumference of the root body at thepoint of the screw 16 where the helix angle is being determined.Although the helix angle θ may vary between the feed, compression andmetering sections, in the preferred embodiment the helix angle θ isconstant. However, in the front end section, preferably the helix angleθ is different then the helix angle θ of the other sections of the screw16.

In addition, the diameter of the root body of the front end section istapered downwardly, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Preferably, the taperin the front end section produces a diameter reduction of approximately40%. This results in an increase in the volume of the agglomeratedmaterial 28 being transfered by the flight in the front end section. Thetaper of the front end section acts to provide a region of increasedvolume for the heated agglomerated material 28 as it passes from theextruder into the die assembly 54. Viewing FIG. 4, the front end sectionincludes a blind bore 46 in phantom), used to receive and mount anappropriate end mandrel, or the like, in the die assembly 54. Helicalflight 42 terminates in the front end section of screw 12 at a surface37 which is transverse and, preferably, perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis along which screw 12 extends.

The extrusion screw 16 with the conical tapered front end section withthe last one-half flight having a sufficiently different pitch or angleto disrupt the previous screw fight pattern, the low compression ratioand the reduced helix angle θ produces an extrudate without spiral "knitmarks."The conical tapered front end section having a decreasing rootbody diameter allows space for the flowing melt to become mixed andagitated by the differently angled one-half flight. The agitation andmixing of the material that occurs has been found to disrupt the spiralpattern which is otherwise imparted to the composite material by thescrew without these inventive features.

This unique screw design and process of extrusion allows for thecontinuous formation of a uniform homogeneous extruded product. This inturn provides for greater production capacity and a product of greaterstrength and more uniformity with no visible spiral "knit marks" norareas of lower and higher density with inconsistent porosity. It willthus be seen that a new and useful extruder and extrusion screw havebeen illustrated and described. It will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes or modifications may be made to theinvention without departing from the spirit of the invention. There arevarious modes of carrying out the invention. These various modes arecontemplated as being within the scope of the invention which areparticularly pointed out and distinctly identified in the claims thatfollow.

Therefore, we claim:
 1. An extruder for plasticating and extruding an extrudate, comprising:an elongated barrel defining an interior elongated cylindrical passage of generally constant diameter; an elongated extrusion screw received in the interior cylindrical passage of said barrel, said extrusion screw including an elongated root body and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, the elongated root body having a generally constant diameter, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front end section having a minimum diameter at the front end of the screw, the taper of said conical, tapered front end section having a diameter reduction of at least 40% at the front end of said conical tapered front end section in comparison with the diameter of said root body, at least the last one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion has a pitch associated therewith which is different from the pitch of the remainder of said thread portion, and where said conical, tapered front end section defines with said interior cylindrical passage a region of increased volume; means for rotating said extrusion screw relative to said barrel; means for supplying material to be plasticated to said interior elongated passage; and means for heating said barrel and thereby the material to be plasticated as the material to be plasticated is moved through said interior elongated passage by the rotation of said extrusion screw.
 2. An extruder for plasticating and extruding an extrudate, comprising:an elongated barrel defining an interior elongated cylindrical passage of generally constant diameter; an elongated extrusion screw received in the interior cylindrical passage of said barrel, said extrusion screw including an elongated root body and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, the elongated root body having a generally constant diameter, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front end section having a minimum diameter at the front end of the screw, the compression ratio of said extrusion screw being not more than 1.5, the helix angle associated with a metering section upstream from said front end section is not more than 17.7°, at least the last one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion has a pitch associated therewith which is different from the pitch of the remainder of said thread portion, and where said conical, tapered front end section defines with said interior cylindrical passage a region of increased volume; means for rotating said extrusion screw relative to said barrel; means for supplying material to be plasticated to said interior elongated passage: and means for heating said barrel and thereby the material to be plasticated as the material to be plasticated is moved through said interior elongated passage by the rotation of said extrusion screw.
 3. An elongated extrusion screw for an extruder including an elongated barrel defining a cylinder interior within which with the rotation of the screw plasticates and extrudes an extrudate, the screw comprising:an elongated root body; and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front extrusion end section where at least one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion has a pitch associated therewith which is different from the pitch of the remainder of said thread portion, and where said conical tapered front end extrusion section defines a region of increased volume for agitation and mixing of extrudate, wherein the elongated root body has a generally constant diameter and the taper of said conical, tapered front end section has a diameter reduction of at least 40% in comparison with the diameter of said root body.
 4. An elongated extrusion screw for an extruder including an elongated barrel defining a cylindrical interior within which with the rotation of the screw plasticates and extrudes an extrudate the screw comprising:an elongated root body; and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front extrusion end section where at least the one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion has a pitch associated therewith which is different from the pitch of the remainder of said thread portion and where said conical, tapered front end extrusion section defines a region of increased volume for agitation and mixing of extrudate, wherein the compression ratio of said extrusion screw is not more than 1.5, the helix angle associated with said thread in a metering section and feed section is not more than 17.7 °, and the taper of said front end section is approximately 40% relative to the remainder of said root body.
 5. An extruder for plasticating and extruding an extrudate comprising:an elongated barrel defining an interior elongated cylindrical passage of generally constant diameter; an elongated extrusion screw received in the interior cylindrical passage of said barrel, said extrusion screw including an elongated root body and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front end section having a minimum diameter at the front end of the screw, at least approximately the last one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion on said tapered front end section has a helix angle associated therewith which is less than the angle of the remainder of said thread portion, and where said conical tapered front end section defines with said interior cylinder passage a region of increased volume; means for rotating said extrusion screw relative to said barrel; means for supplying material to be plasticated to said interior elongated passage; and means for heating said barrel and thereby the material to be plasticated as the material to be plasticated is moved through said interior elongated passage by the rotation of said extrusion screw.
 6. The extruder as set forth in claim 5, wherein the taper of said conical tapered front end section has a diameter reduction of at least 40% at the front end of said conical tapered front end section in comparison with the adjacent diameter of said root body.
 7. The extruder as set forth in claim 5 wherein the thread portion having a reduced helix angle comprises a surface portion generally transverse to the screw axis.
 8. The extruder as set forth in claim 7 wherein said transverse surface portion is perpendicular to the axis of the screw.
 9. An elongated extrusion screw for an extruder including an elongated barrel defining a cylindrical interior within which with the rotation of the screw plasticates and extrudes an extrudate, the screw comprising:an elongated root body; and a thread portion helically wound about said root body and extending along the length thereof, said extrusion screw defining a conical, tapered front extrusion end section where approximately the last one-half revolution of the flight of said thread portion has a helix angle associated therewith which is reduced from the helix angle of the remainder of said thread portion, and where said conical, tapered front extrusion end section defines a region of increased volume for agitation and mixing of extrudate.
 10. The elongated extrusion screw as defined in claim 9 wherein the taper of said conical, tapered front end section has a diameter reduction of at least 40% in comparison with the diameter of the immediately adjacent portion of said root body.
 11. The extrusion screw as set forth in claim 9 wherein said thread portion having a different helix angle comprises a flat surface portion on said last one-half revolution of the flight extending generally transverse with respect to the axis of rotation of said screw.
 12. The extrusion screw as set forth in claim 11, wherein said transverse surface portion extends to the end of the flight. 